Objective: To determine whether national drug control laws ensure that
opioid drugs are available for medical and scientific purposes, as intended by
the 1972 Protocol amendment to the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.

Methods: The authors examined whether the text of a convenience sample of
drug laws from 15 countries:

(i) acknowledged that opioid drugs are indispensable for the relief of pain
and suffering;

(ii) recognized that government was responsible for ensuring the adequate
provision of such drugs for medical and scientific purposes;

(iii) designated an administrative body for implementing international drug
control conventions; and

(iv) acknowledged a government’s intention to implement international
conventions, including the Single Convention.

Findings: Most national laws were found not to contain measures that ensured
adequate provision of opioid drugs for medical and scientific purposes.
Moreover, the model legislation provided by the United Nations Office on Drugs
and Crime did not establish an obligation on national governments to ensure the
availability of these drugs for medical use.

Conclusion: To achieve consistency with the Single Convention, as well as
with associated resolutions and recommendations of international bodies,
national drug control laws and model policies should be updated to include
measures that ensure drug availability to balance the restrictions imposed by
the existing drug control measures needed to prevent the diversion and
nonmedical use of such drugs.